Tube the river! We snagged a river spot and will float to the food trucks. We’ve got trees for shade thank goddess.

I was feasted upon by blood thirsty winged things! But there’s trash cans. A bathroom. Tables and pits. But damn the mosquitoes. A boat ramp too!

A gravel rest stop with just open BLM land. Trash! Multiple trash cans! Multiple picnic benches. Right next to the water. Good for tubing. Not so much for swimming. Road noise. Smoky air right now so please be careful. No fires.

Rustic dispersed camping. One pet toilet as the other is closed for coronavirus. Kind of a bumpy dirt road but my car was just fine on it many many many sides. Pretty close to the road so you do get motorcycle noise and there are a ton of cyclists. So look out for them. Three trails to get to the water. But I recommend the one that looks like a driveway.

Saw my first wild bear! Slowed down to take a photo and a car flying down the road almost hit it but it scampered away unscathed. You can walk across the street to the river. There’s a cool bridge and a rocks to climb on. The site was smallish. Nice bathrooms. Even a pay phone.

Drought times were hard on this lake but when there’s water it’s beautiful. Camped in a pop up. Forgot coffee but a stones throw away was the store with fresh coffee!!

The store was closed and it was a long walk to town but we saw a bird aviary. Peacocks everywhere. Nice and quiet. It rained on us so we used the worlds largest tarp over my friends pop up.

Hot in June and windy. Still a great getaway. Wish the swim beach was larger. The dock is fun to go out on. The store is small but has a few things. The lake is beautiful. Cows come through the picnic are. There’s a bald eagle nest nearby.

Camped in a teepee for a week! Close to all the sights yes away as well. September and it was full. Lots of trails. It was beautiful!

Went out to photograph the milky way. Rough road. Steep in places. Shooting spot. I camped alone in perfect silence. 

It’s rustic. Very rustic.

Beautiful rocks to climb on. Lovely desert scenery. All the beauty of Joshua tree and 29 palms nearby.

Girls trip to big bear. Saw a beautiful fat rattle snake in the camp. It didn’t bother us.

I photographed the Milky Way and the comet and camped in the wind. Yes wind. Yes warm. Yes solitude rad rocks! Loud campers. First come first served. Great bathrooms. The bathroom by the visitors center is open air, poo under the stars.

I rented an Escape camper van. Perfect lodging as it was riverside and torrential downpour forced many tent campers to leave. 

I was cozy! I brought my propane fire pit as there was a fire ban. Most trails were closed due to mud. So many sites to see around the area. Gorgeous trees and water.

And yes that means sand in your tent. Bring a little dust pan. 

You park right by your site. Outhouses. 

Sleeping no to the sounds of waves. Glorious.

The hot springs were the draw. You must reserve online ahead of time. You get an hour and a half for $10. The site was $35. 

I had site 19 and stayed two nights. It was pretty full as expected. Nice and quiet except for a few screaming kids and barking dogs. 

Lots of squirrels, chipmunks and jays. 

My site was unique and be aware it is not ADA. I had a cast on and had to hike my stuff in a ways. Healthy I would’ve been fine but mobile issues it was a struggle. 

The hot springs are in fact hot! Even the pool is a very pleasing warmer temp. I loved the pool. There were harmless wood bees in the cubbies. They’re big and buzzy if you don’t like bugs. Also a ton of barn swallows chirping about. 

You rinse of outside with a warm shower then soak. 

I did the 3 time slot then the next day got the 5 slot. Both were great.

Free! I do love free. I had spent the day in the sun and had no intentions of driving four hours away. I did Subway Cave 👍🏻, Burney Falls👍🏻, and took a much needed nap by Hat Creek. 

I pulled into another campground but there were kids running everywhere and the second I got out the mosquitoes came at me starved for my blood. I left. 

The next was Bogard. I had literally no idea where I was. I needed rest. 

It was beautiful. Aspens fluttered. Owls hooted through the night. 

Most of the sites are for horses so I tried to take another without corrals as I’m not a horse but light was fading, I took a horse one. 

I met all my fellow campers. So many dog cuddles. Kids rode bikes and played hide n seek. 

5 other sites were taken so it was nice and quiet. 

I found some wood someone had placed in my site previously and had a nice fire before sleep took over.

It was hot so no rain fly on my tent and the stars were abundant. So were the bugs. 

Literally the only downside. 

Easily 30 bugs came to bed with me. I used repellent to no avail. 

But hey. It’s free.

Not a campground at all. It’s a hotel where they dumped gravel in the parking and erected goat pens for people to sleep in. 

No toilet paper or hand towels in the bathroom. All services were closed. No bar. No coffee. No rentals. The only shade is in your goat pen. 

The goat pen comes with a picnic table and two plastic Adirondack chairs. 

I’m camping alone so I had to move a picnic table by myself in order to set up my tent. On gravel mind you. The website shows an elevated platform. Not the case. It’s gravel. Big gravel. Hard tent piercing sharp gravel. Gravel. 

A car was parked in front of my “campsite”. 

Annoyed and exasperated in 100° weather and no one on staff to talk to I left. It’s June. Nothing is available last minute. I drank a local margarita and decided to suck it up 

The only fire pit was communal. Do not expect privacy. There are goat pens packed in right next to each other. You can hear everyone’s conversations. 

I felt obnoxious as I filled my air mattress due to the noise it made. 

Expect road noise and train noise. All night. 

Pros: the shower. 

Cons: literally everything else.

I had a pretty sweet creekside corner lot. Meaning only one neighbor and these people were loud AF. I said something and the girl sent her dude to confront me and I felt very awkward after that. They proceeded to talk loudly at me and to me for the two days I was there. I just ignored them.

Otherwise the campsite itself was muddy and all my stuff got extra dirty but oh well right. Firewood is only available for a few hours 3-7 pm I believe so plan ahead. Being June the mosquitos enjoyed my blood. The two types of repellent I brought failed me. Day trips to the old town for coffee and to see the sites. Day trip to the dunes. It was crazy windy but beautiful. Lots of water and dunes to play on.

That being said the campground is noisy with ATV noise.

Largest campground this side of the Mississippi! But you cant tell it's full of other campers as it is lush. Fully and beautifully forested. I stayed in a yurt! I honestly thought it would be empty but no it came with electricity, bunk beds, and a futon. As well as two chairs and a table. And a very helpful mirror. Being June the yurt was hot inside but I was able to open the window flaps to let air in and at night when it got chilly there was a heater. At the door there was what I an assuming a dehumidifier that hummed through the night. 

You park and get out to check in and they give you a map to find your spot. 

The best part was the beach with a wreck of an old ship on it. Theres also old war time ruined to tromp on. Loved it here.